Monday, June 8, 2009

Here's something you never saw from Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops in the 23 years that I was there--a magazine bestseller list. We sold magazines by price points, and though we could have figured out what we sold by playing with draw lists, returns, and invoices, it simply was a very complicated challenge.

When Sharon came over to us from the Shorewood shop, I asked her what she would like from her job that she didn't have before. Her answers were:

1. More control over the draw

and

2. Knowledge about what was selling.

We're hoping this really helps the process. We've even been able to solve one problem we've had, which is locating a source for magazine imports at a margin we can live with. We no longer can get weeklies and newspapers, but the problem might be solved for monthlies. Now I just have to emotionally get over their credit demands and get the ball rolling.

So...here are our top 10 magazines for May.

Weeklies and biweeklies:

1. People

2. Rolling Stone

3. Us

4. Sports Illustrated

5. The Economist

Monthlies:

1. Milwaukee

2. The Progressive

3. Nylon

4. Vogue

5. Harper's

A few surprises, but we're still at the mercy of the draw--some things we simply sold out of, and we'll try to get more next time. It's so nice to actually be able to access the info. And just like 20 years ago, we're not quite sure if Barron's is a magazine or a newspaper (Wisconsin taxes one but not the other), but try to tax it and every person buying it will yell at you.